The concept of policy learning has received increasing attention in the political science literature. This is most visible in the context of the many publications on the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) in the European Employment Strategy (EES). However, much of the research shows fundamental methodological problems when it comes to the impacts and the extent of policy learning. This paper shows that these problems can be avoided if we take a closer look at the potential of the OMC instruments to stimulate learning. To this aim the paper differentiates between three types of learning: learning by one's own experience, learning from others and learning with others. Systematic links are established between these three types of learning and the learning conditions created by the EES instruments (guidelines and recommendations, National Action Plans, benchmarking, peer review and indicators). In this paper I show that construction and use of the instruments casts doubts on the steering capacity of the EES through learning. Moreover there is a fundamental tension between actor orientation in deliberative policy learning and competitive policy bargaining, which questions fundamentally the learning potential of the EES.